E  

Many children first learn the value of money by receiving an allowance. The purpose is to let children learn from experience at an age when financial mistakes are not very costly.

The amount of money that parents give to their children to spend as they wish differs from family to family. Timing is another consideration. Some children get a weekly allowance. Others get a monthly allowance.

In any case, parents should make clear what, if anything, the child is expected to pay for with the money. At first, young children may spend all of their allowance soon after they receive it. If they do this, they will learn the hard way that spending must be done within a budget. Parents are usually advised not to offer more money until the next allowance.

The object is to show young people that a budget demands choices between spending and saving. Older children may be responsible enough to save money for larger costs, like clothing or electronics. Many people who have written on the subject of allowances say it is not a good idea to pay your child for work around the home. These jobs are a normal part of family life.

Paying children to do extra work around the house, however, can be useful. It can even provide an understanding of how a business works.

Allowances give children a chance to experience the three things they can do with money. They can share it in the form of gifts or giving to a good cause. They can spend it by buying things they want. Or they can save it.

Saving helps children understand that costly goals require sacrifice: you have to cut costs and plan for the future. Requiring children to save part of their allowance can also open the door to future saving and investing. Many banks offer services to help children and teenagers learn about personal finance. A savings account is an excellent way to learn about the power of compound interest.

Compounding works by paying interest on interest. So, for example, one dollar invested at two percent interest for two years will earn two cents in the first year. The second year, the money will earn two percent of one dollar and two cents, and so on. That may not seem like a lot. But over time it adds up.

77.For children who receive allowances, they’d better not ________.　　

 A. waste money to buy gifts for their parents or friends　　

 B. buy their favorite clothing or electronics for themselves　　

 C. save money like their parents or other adults　　

 D. ask for the next allowance before the decided date.

78．Many parents give children an allowance regularly to ______.　　

 A. meet children’s basic need for life        

B. give control over their children　　

 C. see whether they have financial mistakes  

D. help children learn how to manage money

79.If children are required to save their allowance, they ______.　　

 A. can experience three things related to money　　

 B. can understand the relation between goals and sacrifice　　

 C. will do more work around the house　　

 D. help themselves found the basis for their future life

80. What is the best title for the passage?

A. Be Generous to Pay Your Children

B. Be Wise to Avoid Financial Mistakes

C. Saving Allowances Does Good to Children

D. Allowances Help Children Learn about Money

Most of us spend our lives seeking the natural world. To this end, we walk the dog, play golf, go fishing, sit in the garden, drink outside rather than inside the pub, have a picnic, live in the suburbs, go to the seaside, buy a weekend place in the country. The most popular free time activity in Britain is going for a walk. And when joggers (慢跑者) jog, they don’t run the streets. Every one of them automatically heads to the park or the river. It is my firm belief that not only do we all need nature, but we all seek nature, whether we know we are doing so or not.
But despite this, our children are growing up nature-deprived (丧失). I spent my boyhood climbing trees. These days, children are robbed of these ancient freedoms, due to problems like crime, traffic, the loss of the open spaces and strange new ideas about what is best for children, that is to say, things that can be bought, rather than things that can be found.
The truth is to be found elsewhere. A study in the US: families had moved to better housing and the children were assessed for ADHD (多动症). Those whose housing had more natural views showed an improvement of 19%; those who had the same improvement in material surroundings but no nice view improved just 4%.
A study in Sweden indicated that kindergarten children who could play in a natural environment had less illness and greater physical ability than children used only to a normal playground. A US study suggested that when a school gave children access to a natural environment, the entire school would do better in studies.
Another study found that children play differently in a natural environment. In playgrounds, children create a hierarchy (等级) based on physical abilities, with the tough ones taking the lead. But when a grassy area was planted with bushes, the children got much more into fantasy play, and the social hierarchy was now based on imagination and creativity.
Most bullying (恃强凌弱) is found in schools where there is a tarmac (柏油碎石) playground; the least bullying is in a natural area that the children are encouraged to explore. This reminds me unpleasantly of Sunnyhill School, with its hard tarmac, where I used to hang about in corners dreaming about wildlife.
But children are frequently discouraged from involvement with natural spaces, for health and safety reasons, for fear that they might get dirty or that they might cause damage. So, instead, the damage is done to the children themselves: not to their bodies but to their souls.
One of the great problems of modern childhood is ADHD, now increasingly and expensively treated with drugs. Yet one study after another indicates that contact with nature gives huge benefits to ADHD children. However, we spend money on drugs rather than on green places.
The life of old people is much better when they have access to nature. The most important for the growing population of old people is in quality rather than quantity of years. And study after study finds that a garden is the single most important thing in finding that quality.
In wider and more difficult areas of life, there is evidence to indicate that natural surroundings improve all kinds of things. Even problems with crime and aggressive behaviour are reduced when there is contact with the natural world.
Dr William Bird, researcher from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, states in his study, “A natural environment can reduce violent behaviour because its process helps reduce anger and behavior that people might regret later.” Wild places need encouraging for this reason, no matter how small their contribution.
We tend to think human beings are doing nature some kind of favor when we are protecting nature. The error here is far too deep: not only do humans need nature for themselves, but the very idea that humanity and the natural world are separable things is damaging.
Human beings are a species of animals. For seven million years we lived on the planet as part of nature. So we miss the natural world and long for contact with non-human life. Anyone who has patted a dog, stroked a cat, sat under a tree with a glass of beer, given or received a bunch of flowers or chosen to walk through the park on a nice day, understands that.
We need the wild world. It is necessary to our well-being, our health, our happiness. Without other living things around us we are less than human.
【小题1】What is the author’s firm belief?

A．Find more effective drugs for them.

B．Provide more green spaces for them.

C．Place them under more personal care.

D．Engage them in more meaningful activities

A．They look on life optimistically.	B．They enjoy a life of better quality.
C．They are able to live longer.	D．They become good-humored

If you look for a book as a present for a child. You will be spoiled for choice even in a year there is no new Harry Patten J.K Rowling’s wizard is not alone the past decade has been a harvest for good children’s books ,which has set off a large quantity of films and an increased sales of classics such as The lard of the Rings.

Yet despite that, reading is increasingly unpopular among children. According to statistics in 1997 23% said they didn’t like reading in all. In 2003, 35% did. And around 6% of children leave primary school each year unable to read properly.

Maybe the decline is caused by the increasing availability of computes games. Maybe the books boom has affected only the top of the educational pile. Either way, Chancellor Cordon Brown plans to change things for the bottom of the class .In his pre-budget report , he announced the national project of Reading Recovery to help the children struggling most.

Reading Recovery is wined at six year olds, who receive four months of individual daily half-hour classes with a specially trained teacher. An evaluation either this year reported that children on the school made 20 months’ progress in just one year, whereas similarly weak readers without special help made just five months’ progress, and so ended the year even further below the level expected for their age.

International research tends to find that when British children leave primacy school they read well, but read text often for fun than those elsewhere .Reading for fun matters because children who are been on reading can report lifelong pleasure and loving books is an excellent indicator of future educational success . According to the OECD, being a regular and enthusiastic reader is of great advantage.

60．Which of the following is true of Paragraph 1?

A．Marry children’s books have been adapted from films.

B．Marry high-quality children’s books have been published.

C．The sales of classics have led to the popularity of films.

D．The sales of presents for children have increased.

61．Statistics suggested that           .

A．the number of top students increased with the use of computers

B．a decreasing number of  children showed interest in reading

C．a minority of primacy school children read properly

D．a huge percentage of children read regularly

62．What do we know about Reading Recovery?

A．An evaluation of it will be made sometime this year.

B．Weak readers on the project were the most hardworking.

C．It aims to train special teachers to help children with reading.

D．Children on the project showed noticeable progress in reading.

63．Reading for fun is important because book-loving children _________.

A．take greater advantage of the project

B．show the potential to enjoy a long life

C．are likely to succeed in their education.

D．would make excellent future researchers

64．The arm of this text would probably be _________.

A．to overcome primary school pupils reading difficulty.

B．to encourage the publication of more children’s books

C．to remind children of the importance of reading for fun

D．to introduce a way to improve early children reading

If you look for a book as a present for a child, you will be spoiled for choice even in a year when there is no new Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling’s wizard is not alone: the past decade has been a harvest for good children’s books, which has set off a large quantity of films and in turn led to increased sales of classics such as The Lord of the Rings.
Yet despite that, reading is increasingly unpopular among children. According to statistics, in 1997 23% said they didn’t like reading at all. In 2003, 35% did. And around 6% of children leave primary school each year unable to read properly.
Maybe the decline is caused by the increasing availability（可利用性）of computer games. Maybe the books boom（繁荣）has affected only the top of the educational pile. Either way, Chancellor Gordon Brown plans to change things for the bottom of the class. In his pre-budget（预算） report, he announced the national project of Reading Recovery to help the children struggling most.
Reading Recovery is aimed at six-year-olds, who receive four months of individual daily half- hour classes with a specially trained teacher. An evaluation earlier this year reported that children on the scheme made 20 months’ progress in just one year, whereas similarly weak readers without special help made just five months’ progress, and so ended the year even further below the level expected for their age.
International research tends to find that when British children leave primary school they read well, but read less – often for fun than those elsewhere. Reading for fun matters because children who are keen on（热衷） reading can expect lifelong pleasure and loving books is an excellent indicator（指示物）of future educational success. According to the OECD, being a regular and enthusiastic reader is of great advantage.
【小题1】Which of the following is true of Paragraph 1?

The job of raising children is a tough one. Children don’t come with an instruction manual(说明书). And each child is 36 . So parents sometimes pull their hair out in frustration(挫折), not  37

what to do. But in raising children—as in all of life—what we do is  38  by our culture. Naturally then, American parents teach their children basic American  39 . To Americans, the goal of parents is to help children   40  on their own two feet. From  41  each child may get his or her own room. As children grow, they get more  42  to make their own choices.  43  choose their own forms of entertainment, as well as the friends to  44  them with. When they  45  young adulthood, they choose their own jobs and marriage  46  . Of course, many young adults still  47

their parents’ advice and approval for the choices they make. But once they “leave the  48  ” at around 18 to 21 years old, they want to be on their own , not  49  to their mother’s apron strings (围裙带). The relationship between parents and children in America is very informal. American parents try to  50  their children as individuals—not as extensions of themselves. They allow them to achieve their own   51  . Americans praise and encourage their children to give them the  52  

to succeed. When children become adults, their relationship with their parents becomes more like a (an)  53  among equals.  But  54  to popular belief, most adult Americans don’t make their parents pay for room and board when they come to  55  . Even as adult, they respect and honor their parents.

1.A. strange           B. different                C. new                   D. unlike

2.A. noticing         B. remember                         C. knowing                 D. deciding

3.A. influenced             B. made             C. controlled                D. changed

4.A. services         B. standards                       C. rules                    D. values

5.A. sit                        B. get                 C. stand                           D. rise

6.A. adulthood               B. girlhood                     C. boyhood                      D. childhood

7.A. freedom                  B. space                            C. time                            D. money

8.A. Adults             B. Teenagers                   C. Americans                   D. Parents

9.A. help                  B. join                C. share                       D. provide

10.A. gain                B. pass                  C. become                   D. reach

11.A. wives              B. partners            C. husbands                  D. couples

12.A. seek                 B. invite                 C. try                        D. choose

13.A. room               B. house                 C. nest                       D. place

14.A. connected           B. held                   C. stuck                  D. tied

15.A. serve                   B. treat                C. describe                         D. recognize

16.A. jobs                           B. plans             C. dreams                   D. hopes

17.A. dependence         B. trust              C. belief                       D. confidence

18.A. friendship              B. companion         C. membership           D. association

19.A. known                        B. similar            C. contrary             D. due

20.A. travel             B. visit              C. see               D. live